| In the first week of April, I took a trip with my father-in-law, Jerry,
to the
Palm Springs Air Museum.
Now you would think living only a few miles away from this museum that
I'd know the place pretty good, but the fact is neither one of us had
ever been there before. With that being said, I didn't know what to
expect once we arrived (which wasn't really that impressive from the
outside) but once we paid our admission, things changed pretty quickly.
To give you a little information about the museum, it consists mostly of
World War 2 era history, memorabilia and aircraft but we didn't know
that before we went inside because there were some modern jets to be
seen as you entered the parking area. That was fine with us because we
both like prop driven airplanes anyways.
Now you would think that working in an aerospace manufacturing plant
and building parts for the Apache helicopter along with many other
modern aircraft that I would favor the newer models but that's just not the case.
Don't get me wrong here because I do like the new style fighters like
the FA-18's and many others but there's something about older aircraft
that really do it for me and the first on that list would be the P-51 Mustang.
The museum is what's called a 'working museum' which means all of the
aircraft can fly and does so often which makes this place that much better.
While you're looking at all the pictures, notice the drip pans that
catch engine oil under all
the airplanes which should give you a better idea that they really do run.
Once inside the place it's divided into two areas (large hangers) which
is easy to walk around and see everything. And if you want too,
you're welcome to go outside and see what they might be working on or what might
be just sitting there.
As you round the first corner you're greeted with a large open area
in the center which is reserved for different events like training and
classes which they do on Saturdays. The walls are lined with all kinds of display cases which range
from old guns to scale models of ships, submarines and airplanes. High
up on all the walls are also very large paintings and tons of history
about WW II which really is stunning. The remainder of the room is packed
with aircraft of all shapes and sizes which was really a great
experience to say the least.
What really makes all this come together for you are the
volunteers around the place which are very knowledgeable about our
history. What makes them so in the know you ask? Because these volunteers
that you learn the history from, are those who actually made it.
That's right, these guys were in the military and fought for our country
which makes them true heroes in my eyes. To top it all off they will
answer just about any question you might have and tell you a few
personal stories along the way which pegged the cool factor meter for
us.
I took a bunch of pictures to help tell the story of some of the best
aircraft to ever fly back then so sit back and enjoy the show of over
140 large pictures. Oh, one more thing, if you see a picture of
sign about each plane and can't read it, just click on the picture for a
high resolution image of it which should be more than enough to learn
about it.
NOTE: On the last page of this update is a story about a man named
Mancel King, which is a World War 2 hero that flew a B-24. Mancel shares
some of his true life experiences of what it was like while he was in the
war. Be sure to check this out because it's a great read.
Update: 10-9-2019 - I was emailed about adding a link to this website "19
of the World’s Best World War II Museums and Historical Sites"
so if you you're interested in visiting one of these great museums,
you'll find everything you need to know about them by clicking the link.
Palm Springs Air Museum This is the first thing you see when you come through the door (which
is where the exit sign is) and it sure had a lot of history behind it.
It's a dive bomber aircraft and was used in WW II to take out
enemy ships but according to the guy that we talked to it was much
harder than it looked.
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